​This Coconut Blueberry Ice Cream has quite a story to go with it- it ended up being a labor of love, BUT let me tell you- making this ice cream is not laborious in the least. It’s actually ﻿the simplest recipe ever﻿ with only 4 ingredients and now I could seriously do it in my sleep. And if you don't want the story; just skip to the bottom for the recipe!

​I wanted an ice cream maker for the longest time and finally broke down and bought one at Bed Bath and Beyond with a coupon (because is there any other way to by something from BB & B? I literally have a binder of coupons. Hit me up if you need one ;) ). Excited to make my first batch of ice cream, I froze the bowl for the recommended 24 hours and decide on a dairy-free blueberry ice cream. Coconut milk, vanilla unsweetened plant milk, honey and a bunch of blueberries.

*Spoiler alert* the fact that this is in a bread pan should be the first clue that my first ice cream machine experience didn’t go so well.

​Now would probably be an appropriate time to ooh and ahh at the color. I know you're wondering if there's food coloring or something wonky in there, but that's just good ol' Mother Nature.

To prepare the ice cream mixture, I cooked blueberries and honey for about 5 minutes, mashing and swooning over the gorgeous color. Little did I know, once I blended the blueberries with the milks in my Vitamix, this lovely lavender color liquid unfolded before my eyes. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t just take a swig of the liquid cream…. Oh. My. Gosh. There were noises. It was so good.

​Carefully following instructions (I’ve been known not to do this), I poured the mixture in my brand new machine and turned it on. *This particular machine says it makes ice cream in about ~30 minutes-ish*....15 minutes go by. Still liquid. 20 minutes go by. Still tastes good, but still liquid. 30 minutes go by… I got nothing. 40 minutes go by…. I’m officially frustrated and googling each individual ingredient to find out which pesky one is to blame for not freezing! I decided it was the honey and swear I’ll never use honey again (in ice cream). I almost tossed the ice cream mixture (because let’s get real- I wouldn’t actually let myself drink it like a smoothie and I was pretty miffed by that time), but thank goodness I didn’t!

​​​I poured the pretty liquid in a standard sized bread pan, put 2 layers of plastic wrap and I tried not to curse while heading to the freezer in the garage. 12 hours later I checked on it- still pretty runny.. supporting my theory that honey is pretty much the devil.

Fast forward about 12 more hours until 9pm at night when I tell Mr. KISS in the Kitchen I was going to go get the blueberry slush mix from the freezer again (massive eye roll) and to my complete shock- it was creamy, frozen and ridiculously gorgeous. All of these photos are from that batch and this ice cream basically became my #1 favorite dessert I’ve ever created. #notevenkidding

​So here’s the lessons learned:

Here's the punchline and reason it didn't work- You have to make sure the bowl on your ice cream maker is actually frozen.. turns out my outdoor freezer is a loser and that was the reason behind all my ice cream woes.

I tested this recipe again to see if it would actually turn out as creamy the second time without 40 minutes of (potentially pointless) churning. The verdict is I do think the churning made it a littlemore creamy. The second batch was slightly icier so I let it sit for a few more minutes before serving, but it was still delicious. This creamy blueberry flavor is out of this world!

I do think this recipe will work just fine in an ice cream maker- I have yet to test it, but will update this post once I do.

The best things in life take troubleshooting and patience. And honey is not the devil.

P.S. - If you're like me and itching for fall- check out my first Fall Pumpkin Recipe, Grain-Free Blender Pumpkin Muffins! Because what's better than delicious muffins you can make in your Vitamix? The answer is either nothing, OR the Blueberry Coconut Ice Cream ;).

Ingredients
2 cups blueberries, fresh
1 13.5oz can coconut milk (full fat)
1 1/2 cups vanilla unsweetened plant milk - I used Ripple's new Vanilla Unsweetened and it worked perfectly!
1/2 cup honey*​
Instructions
1.) In a medium saucepan, heat blueberries and honey on medium-high heat until they come to a boil. Turn down heat, mash blueberries and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
2.) Let blueberries cool at least 5 minutes.
3.) In a Vitamix or high-speed blender, pour blueberry-honey mixture and both milks.
4.) Blend on high until mixed well and pour mixture into a standard bread pan, cover with 2 layers plastic wrap and freeze for 20-24 hours.
5.) If using an ice-cream maker, complete up to Step 3 then let the mixture sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours before following the manufacturer's instructions.

What a gorgeous ice cream. Bet it's delicious - can't wait to try it. Funny story but good to know it turns out great even without an ice cream maker

Reply

Shannon

9/1/2017 01:52:59 pm

Thank you, Mona! I'm so glad it works without one too ;). Thanks for stopping by!

Reply

Ade

9/9/2017 12:07:02 am

Honey is not vegan so this dessert isn't actually vegan. I bet you could subsitute with agave or maple syrup to make it actually vegan.

Reply

Shannon

9/9/2017 09:41:05 pm

Hi Ade. Thanks so much for stopping by! Yes, you're right- true vegan practices would not include any animal products. This recipe is dairy-free, but I think was promoted on various platforms as vegan. Apologies for any confusion! Thanks again and hope you're having a great weekend!

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Welcome to KISS in the Kitchen! I'm Shannon, and my dad always told me "Keep it simple, Shannon". And that's what you'll find here- simple recipes and simple ideas to help you get healthier and happier.

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